What is Google Shared Drive?

Shared Drive (formerly known as Team Drive) in Google Workspace is a shared space that allows teammates to store, access and synchronize files. In this space, all members see the same set of files. Different from My Drive or Shared with me, Shared Drives belong to the entire team rather than individual users. When a team member leaves, the files can be kept and the administrator only needs to delete the account.

Also, Shared Drive allows for more file ownership, sharing, and restore rights. It simplifies file collaboration and makes file access level management much easier. If you search on Chrome, you will find that quite a few people are looking for ways to backup Shared Drive on Google. Here in the following content, we will elaborate on how to backup Shared Drive in 3 simple ways.

Why Backup Shared Drive on Google?

When you store your files on Shared Drive, you should be aware that it is not a cloud backup solution but a cloud storage service. If you or your team members accidentally delete files and do not restore them within the recovery time, they may be permanently removed and cannot be retrieved.

And it is always wise to backup Google Shared Drive, as a safeguard against malware attacks and possible problems within Google itself.

How to Backup Shared Drive on Google in 3 Ways

Here are three effective ways to back up Shared Drive on Google using Google Vault, Google desktop app, and a third-party tool. Please choose the one that works best for you.

Way 1. Backup Google Shared Drive using Google Vault

Google Vault is an archiving tool that helps users retain, manage, and export an organization's data. Unlike OneDrive Personal Vault, which is available for all users, Google Vault only works for Google Workspace Business and Enterprise customers.

Now, follow the step-by-step guide below to learn how to backup Google Shared Drive:

Step 1. Log in to Google Vault with your admin credential.

Step 2. Click on Retention > Custom Rules > Create in turn.

Step 3. Open the drop-down menu of Service and choose Drive. Then, tap on CONTINUE.

Step 4. In the Scope section, choose to backup all your Shared Drives (with the All shared drives option) or certain Shared Drives (with the Specific shared drives option). And, hit CONTINUE.

Step 5. In the Condition and Duration and action sections, specify the retention period. Finally, click CREATE.

Step 6. Now, Google Vault will retain your files and you are able to export files on Shared Drives as needed.

It is worth mentioning that Google Vault has limitations as a backup solution. For example, it has no built-in restore functionality, which makes recovery of lost data difficult, it is not suitable for large data exports, and it will not be able to access data in the event of a Google interruption.

Way 2. Backup Google Shared Drive with Google Drive Desktop app

With the Google Drive desktop application, Drive for desktop, you can synchronize Shared Drive files from the cloud to your computer and keep a local copy for offline access. To backup Google Team Drive (now Shared Drive) by syncing it locally, here is what to do:

Step 1. Download and run the Drive for desktop program on your computer and log in.

Step 2. Click on the Google Drive icon in the taskbar, select Settings, and click Preferences.

Step 3. Choose Google Drive. Under My Drive syncing options, pick Mirror files.

Step 4. Go to the Google Drive disk on PC, right-click on the target Shared Drive, and hover over Offline access to choose Available offline.

Way 3. Backup Shared Drive on Google with MultCloud - Recommend

MultCloud, known as a cloud storage manager, is designed to help you manage more than 30 major cloud storage services on one interface. It comes with a Cloud Backup feature that allows you to backup Shared Drive from one account to another, backup Shared Drive to OneDrive, Backblaze, Dropbox, and other clouds, and backup Shared Drive to NAS, etc.

Additionally, it offers other useful functions, such as Cloud Transfer, which can help you migrate Google Drive to G Suite (now Google Workspace), Remote Upload, which could save web files to Google Drive directly, and Team Transfer, which is powerful to migrate all accounts from one business cloud to another with one click.

Next, let’s take a look at how to create Google Shared Drive backups with the help of MultCloud:

Step 1. Sign up for MultCloud for free or use your Facebook/Google account to log in.

Step 2. Tap on Add Cloud, choose Shared Drive under Business Clouds, and add it to this tool. Then, add another cloud drive to save your Shared Drive backups.

Step 3. Then, click Cloud Backup under Common Tools. Choose your Shared Drive as the backup source and add another cloud as the backup destination. Finally, Press Backup Now.

To Sum it up

The complete guide has described how to backup Shared Drive on Google in 3 different ways. All these methods can help you create copies of Shared Drive files. MultCloud should be your preferred Google Shared Drive backup solution since it can not only backup Shared Drive to another cloud but also manage all your Shared Drives on a single interface.

Besides, if you need to migrate from Google Workspace to Office 365, this great tool can help you get it done quickly and easily.